Nikkormat?

ChristopherCoy

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Someone have me this kit. A Nikkormat 35mm with a 55 3.5 and a 135 2.8. Everything has original boxes, and original plastic lens bubbles. There's also a roll if 1981 Kidachrome.

Aside from the film, what's all this worth? I've heard of Nikkormat but not used them. Are they Nikon knockoffs or what?





 

Uncle Bill

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Actually Nikkormats were the prosumer camera of their day for Nikon, aimed at those who want to shoot with Nikkor glass but couldn't afford a Nikon F. They are sturdy cameras, as for current market value, I would look at KEH and Ebay to come up with a market value, I'll be honest, they are not expensive.
 

frank

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Not expensive, but they are reliable workhorses, and they take nikkor lenses.
 

snapguy

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Nikkormat

When I toiled for one of the world's largest photo services in the 1960s I used the legendary Nikon F with motor drive. It was a great camera but heavy as a bear. The Nikkormat was the perfect second body. For one thing it had a built-in light meter but cost less for the body than a light meter prism alone for the Nikon F. The 'Mat is rugged as the devil. When I was shooting with autofocus cameras in the 1990s I would use my old Nikkormat with non-autofocus lenses when I had to take photos in terrible wind and rain storms. The Nikkormat never let me down. It is a bit heavy by today's standard but delivers the goods. I still have mine.
 
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ChristopherCoy

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I can't wait to try that 135mm 2.8!
 
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ChristopherCoy

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I didn't even notice the meter in this one! I'll have to go check it out. I hope it still works.
 

Tom1956

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Go get a 357 silver battery and make a little paper doughnut collar. The modern 625 batteries have a very bad discharge curve, as they are alkaline and not the original 1.35V mercury. Now that modern batteries will all be 1.55V, the meter tends to cause underexposure.
 

mgb74

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There were a few versions over time. Yours looks to be a FT or FTn as I see the pre-AI ring. The (later) FT2s use currently available 357 batteries. The older ones use the now extinct 1.35v 625 battery (as Tom1956 mentioned). A #9 o-ring works well around the 357 battery. Or use that same o-ring around a 675 zinc air battery for a constant 1.4v until the battery dies.
 

MattKing

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Nikkormats put the shutter speed control where it belongs!

(how can you tell that my primary 35mm system is Olympus?)

You may find that the micro Nikkor 55mm lens becomes one of your favourites - especially if close focus work is new to you.
 

Tom1956

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I forgot about the zinc-air battery idea. Check out the usage of it as done by E.von Hoegh on this forum.
 
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ChristopherCoy

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MattKing said:
Nikkormats put the shutter speed control where it belongs!

(how can you tell that my primary 35mm system is Olympus?)

You may find that the micro Nikkor 55mm lens becomes one of your favourites - especially if close focus work is new to you.
Click to expand...


Its been a year since I've shot a roll of film, and the negatives are still hanging in the same spot they were when I put them there to dry!

I'm sure my developer is jello by now.

This might be the kick in the pants I need to get out and do something.
 
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ChristopherCoy

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Would this be an FT or an FTN?

 
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ChristopherCoy

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Is this all true??

"As such, Nippon Kogaku could not find a way to automatically synchronize their Nikkor Auto lenses' aperture information with the FT body. Therefore, mounting lenses required a special preparatory procedure. First, the lens' maximum aperture (smallest f-stop number) must set against the film speed scale on the FT's shutter speed ring. Then, the "meter coupling pin" on the ring surrounding the FT's lens mount flange must pushed all the way to the right and the lens' aperture ring must be preset to f/5.6 to line up the "meter coupling shoe" with the pin for mounting. Note that the lens maximum aperture had to be reset every time the lens was changed. This was very inconvenient compared to some other SLRs of the 1960s."
 

lxdude

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ChristopherCoy said:
Is this all true??
Click to expand...
Those instructions are for the FT. With your FTN you need only set the lens to f/5.6 before mounting and do the "Nikon twist" after mounting, which is to turn the f-stop ring to the smallest opening, then to the largest. After a while, it becomes second nature.
 
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drkhalsa

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"After a while, it becomes second nature."

I agree, it's not difficult to get used to.

It's a great, solid camera.
 

John_Nikon_F

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I own three of these guys right now. Two FT2 bodies, one FTn. They're the predecessors of the FM series Nikons. Mostly bulletproof. Got Ilford SFX 200 loaded in the FTn, and some respooled Eastman 5022 XX B&W motion picture film loaded in the chrome FT2.

-J
 

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blockend

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Set it to 5.6 and turn the lens onto the body, holding the aperture ring. The pressure of twisting takes the aperture to its limit one way and you turn back the other once the bayonet has clicked into position. It becomes totally instinctive. 5.6 has to be set to align the aperture coupling fork with the mechanism on the body. There's also a little window on Nikkormats that tells the meter what the maximum aperture of the lens is.

Nikkormats were built to the same standard as professional Nikons, but lacked the system features. It's easy to forget that before Nikon were the mega-corp they are today, their cameras were hand built to compete with the best German models (hence "Nik(Zeiss)Ikon" or Nikon). For the modern buyer, Nikkormats are good news and bad. The bad is many of the light meters have died from one cause or another. One cure is to pay for a fix, but batteries have different voltages, drain curves or life expectancy to the old mercury cells. Others just use a separate light meter or the one in their smartphone.
Nikkormats are also heavy cameras. Whether you view this as a good or bad thing depends on taste, and how long you expect to carry one. It wouldn't be my first choice for a vacation camera, although that's exactly what people once used them for. Another problem can be the cost of lenses. Nearly all Nikkors are usable on bodies from the 1960s to the current day in some form, meaning Nikon may not be first choice if you want to put a film lens kit together from scratch.

The good news - or bad if you want to sell - is Nikkormats are cheap, ridiculously so IMO, and there are lots available. They are also easy to work on, meaning you can get them fixed, in the same way you can an F2 or a Leica. Unlike those cameras, your Nikkormat will not be worth much more fixed than unrepaired, leaving the Nikkormat as the unloved child of manual Nikons.
 
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John_Nikon_F

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^Even 1st generation FM/FE cameras are getting that way. Same with some FE2 bodies... Almost no real value in them. I currently have a nice FM2n that the previous owner modified so he could have his copyright on his negatives. Will involve an overhaul and a casting swap to fix that. I'm currently on the hunt for an FE2 with issues that I can part out.

-J
 

blockend

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It's true. The market has spoken, and unless you own an immaculate Nikon F, or a pristine Leica, film camera values are negligible compared to their original worth. Lenses are a different story. I have a few Nikkormats, one of which is absolutely mint. I didn't pay any more for it than the battered ones, and suspect it would be the same story if I sold.
 

benjiboy

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What it's worth, depends if you're buying or selling.
 

tessar

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Another positive. I bought an FT3 new in 1977 and am still using it. Never gave me any trouble. I'd like to have that 55/3.5 Micro (micro is Nikonspeak for macro) so I wouldn't have to use extension tubes.
 

Steve Smith

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I'm sitting here with my father's old Nikkormat FTn in my hands. It feels so solidly built and is so smooth to opoerate that it's very hard to think of Nikkormat as an entry level Nikon.

It wouldn't be lacking anything if it had Nikon on the front instead of Nikkormat.


Steve.
 
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